LA Galaxy Weekly Update: May 3

CARSON, Calif.– On the heels of a dramatic, late defeat against FC Dallas in the wind and rain on Sunday night, the LA Galaxy will look to rebound when they return to action on Saturday night against the Eastern Conference leading New York Red Bulls. The Red Bulls arrive in Carson having won two of their last three trips to face the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center and in the midst of a three-game winning streak during which they have not allowed a goal.

That game kicks off at 8 p.m. with the first 10,000 fans entering the stadium receiving a complimentary LA Galaxy – New York Red Bulls commemorative poster, featuring the Galaxy’s Juan Pablo Angel, David Beckham and Landon Donovan, and the Red Bulls’ Dwayne De Rosario, Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez. (pictured above)

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live nationally on both ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes and online at ESPN3.com starting at 8 p.m. KTLK 1150 AM will carry the game live on the radio locally in English, while 1330 AM ESPN Deportes Radio and KWKU 1220 AM will each carry the game in Spanish. The English radio feed will also be available online at lagalaxy.com/gamedaylive.

DONOVAN ADDS TO GOAL ACCOUNT: Landon Donovan scored his team-leading third goal of the season on Sunday, tallying LA’s only goal in the 2-1 loss to Dallas. Donovan, who has led the Galaxy in scoring every season from 2005-2009, had not scored in 11 consecutive regular season and postseason games dating back to September 18 of last year before scoring a pair of goals on April 23 against Portland.

The Galaxy captain has now scored each of LA’s last three goals and is tied with 16 others for fourth place in the league in goals scored with three. In 150 career regular season games with the Galaxy, Donovan has a club record 74 goals in addition to 63 assists.

ANGEL FACING HIS FORMER CLUB: Galaxy forward Juan Pablo Angel will face his former club, the New York Red Bulls, for the first time on Saturday night. The Red Bulls all-time leading scorer with 58 goals in 102 career regular season games, Angel made his debut for the club in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game against the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center in May 2007, scoring with a freekick in extra time of LA’s 3-1 win. Angel would go on to lead his team in scoring in all four of his seasons with the club before being acquired by the Galaxy in Phase Two of the MLS Re-Entry Process in December.

In eight games this season for the Galaxy, Angel has one goal and one assist. He was originally awarded an assist on Landon Donovan’s goal against FC Dallas on Sunday, but that was later ruled not to be an assist and was removed.

This will be the first time in Angel’s professional career that he plays a league game against one of his former clubs. Prior to coming to MLS, Angel had played in Argentina, Colombia and England, but had never played for two teams in the same league.

ARENA TOO: Saturday’s game against the Red Bulls will be Bruce Arena’s 11th game as head coach of the Galaxy against one of his former clubs. Since being named the Galaxy’s General Manager and Head Coach in August 2008, Arena has compiled a 6-1-3 record against his former teams, going 3-0-3 against D.C. United and 3-1-0 against the Red Bulls. Arena was the head coach at D.C. United from 1996-1998 and was the Red Bulls’ head coach from 2006-2007.

UNBEATEN STREAK SNAPPED: Sunday’s loss to FC Dallas snapped the Galaxy’s five-game unbeaten streak, a run that had seen them take 11 of a possible 15 points with a 3-0-2 record to climb to the top of the Western Conference standings. Since the start of the 2009 season, the Galaxy have had four unbeaten streaks of five games or longer, including a 12-game streak to open the 2010 season that matched LA’s longest unbeaten streak to open a season ever.

The loss also snapped LA’s 12-game unbeaten streak in the month of May. In 2009, the Galaxy were 1-0-5 in May, compared to a 5-0-1 mark last season.

CONFERENCE LEADERS MEET: This will be the second time this season that the Galaxy face the first place team in the Eastern Conference, though it is the first time that they will play them as the leaders in the Western Conference. On April 2, the Galaxy, who were in third place in the West at that point, defeated the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Union 1-0 behind a first half goal from Leonardo.

In 2010, the Galaxy and Red Bulls each finished atop their conference standings with the two sides splitting their two meetings on the year. LA won 1-0 at Red Bull Arena in August while the Red Bulls won 2-0 at The Home Depot Center in September.

DEFENDING THEIR HOME TURF: With their clean sheet against the Portland Timbers on April 23, the Galaxy have now not allowed a goal in the last 267 minutes of action at The Home Depot Center dating back to the club’s home opener against New England on March 20. Shalrie Joseph gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute of that game, but the club has kept a clean sheet since then, including shutouts in each of their last two home games.

In 2010, the Galaxy tied a club record with 12 regular season clean sheets, though only three of those came at The Home Depot Center while 19 of the 26 goals allowed by the club came at home.

RESERVES DROP SECOND STRAIGHT: The LA Galaxy fell to 0-2-0 in the MLS Reserve League on Tuesday afternoon, falling 3-1 to Chivas USA on the Track and Field Stadium at The Home Depot Center. Hector Jimenez scored the Galaxy’s only goal of the game, heading home an Adam Cristman cross in the 35th minute to tie the score at 1-1. One minute after Jimenez’s goal, Chivas USA went back in front before adding a third midway through the second half to ensure the win.

Cristman made his first appearance of the year for the Galaxy after undergoing left knee surgery in mid-March. He played 45 minutes up front alongside Bryan Jordan before being replaced at halftime by Jack McBean, who was also making his season debut for the Galaxy after returning from international duty with the U.S. Under-17 National Team yesterday. Gregg Berhalter, who has been out since late February with a sprained MCL, replaced Dan Keat in the 59th minute and played the final 31 minutes for his first appearance of the season.

LA GALAXY YOUTH ACADEMY

U-16’S TAKE DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY SUPERCLASICO: The LA Galaxy Academy U-16 team improved to 15-2-1 on the season with a 1-0 win over Chivas USA in the first Academy SuperClasico of the season on Saturday at The Home Depot Center. Kevin Labastida scored the game’s only goal in the 20th minute while Josh McNeely kept a clean sheet for the Galaxy, who were the home team in the game.

Also on Saturday, the Galaxy U-18’s earned a share of the points in a wild 2-2 draw with Chivas USA. The Galaxy trailed 1-0 for most of the second half before Justin Dhillon, who made his second Reserve League appearance of the year for the Galaxy on Tuesday, scored a pair of goals in the 85th and 87th minutes to put LA up 2-1. However, Chivas USA were able to equalize two minutes later and the game finished 2-2.

Both teams are back in action at The Home Depot Center on Saturday when they host Cosmos Academy West. The U-18’s kick off at 1 p.m. while the U-16’s will follow at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be played on Field #5 at The Home Depot Center and admission to the games is free.

IN THE COMMUNITY

GALAXY FOUNDATION TO HOST MOTHER’S DAY VIP EXPERIENCE, SPONSORED BY CLASSIC TENTS, THIS SATURDAY; GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: The Galaxy Foundation will host the Mother’s Day VIP Experience, sponsored by Classic Tents, prior to the Galaxy’s game against the New York Red Bulls this Saturday, May 7 from 6-8 p.m. at The Home Depot Center. The event is open to all women and will treat them to a VIP Experience featuring a pre-game reception with appetizers and cocktail stations by Korbel and Finlandia Vodka, a coach’s chalk talk with Associate Head Coach Dave Sarachan and pampering experiences by Stila Cosmetics (make-up touch-ups and tips), Mimosa Salon (manicures and hair styling), California Healing Arts College (massages). Additionally, the American Heart Association and Amella Caramels will take part in the event, which will include an Opportunity Drawing and gift bags. KOST 103.5 FM will provide music for the event and morning show on-air personality Mark Wallengren will host the night.

LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club’s official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.